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Amanojaku
Amanojaku ' is the main ghost in ''Ghost Stories. He is banished into Satsuki and Keiichirou's cat Kaya in Episode 1 and remains imprisoned for most of the series, much to his initial chargrin. Amanojaku gains energy by absorbing the fear of living beings. He can channel this energy into supernatural powers such as levitation, supersonic waves, and other phenomenon to incite fear. As he absorbs power he also gains size, solidity and musculature, becoming more formidable and frightening as a result. Appearance When Amanojaku first appears in Episode 1, it is as a tiny, harmless-looking spirit, glowing red and with a whispy tail instead of legs as well as a comically large navel. His voice is high-pitched. His first lines are asking Satsuki to be friends with him. When she refuses he fades away ominously saying that Satsuki would be better off friends with him than enemies. What follows is several supernatural phenomenon, breaking the windows and causing the chandelier to fall on them, frightening Satsuki and her friends and feeding Amanojaku with power so when he reappears, it is as a larger spirit. Amanojaku's second form has longer hair and a more defined physique. His voice has deepened unsettlingly. Bandages have appeared on his forearms and he appears to have gained legs. He beckons Satsuki to come over and be friends with him once again, but it turns out to be a trap as, as soon as Satsuki steps forward, Amanojaku makes the umbrellas in a stand to the side rise and fly at her, scaring her and her friends once again and giving Amanojaku even more power. This triggers his final growth to his full-powered form. During his growth to the final form, Amanojaku reveals that he has a grudge against Satsuki, specifically her mother because of their meddling in his plans and sealing him away in the past. Amanojaku, at full-power is a huge, hulking oni-like spirit with dark green skin, large eyes, and pointed ears. He has long red hair and beard and a hunched, gorilla-like posture. He has stripes of colored tattoos on his arms and chest, three blue ones on his arms and two purple ones on his chest. He wears a tattered loincloth around his waist and a small black hat with '邪' (evil, wicked) written on it. There are bandages wrapped around his forearms and legs and overlarge golden hoops at his wrists as well as ankle bracelets. As a cat, Amanojaku is mostly indistinguishable from Kaya and is a small, black-furred Bombay cat with differing colored eyes. His voice is subtly lighter and more human as Kaya than as a spirit. Supernatural Abilities In Kaya's body, Amanojaku has limited powers, only able to slightly move small objects. He absorbs the fear of Satsuki and her classmates through their ghostly encounters and regains strength and supernatural abilities. As a cat, Amanojaku can sense and identify ghosts in the close vicinity, it is unclear if this is a result of his spiritual nature, or an innate feline trait. Character Arc Amanojaku provides information and hints to Satsuki and her friends about the ghosts and threats in several episodes, reluctantly at first, but with increasing friendliness. Over the course of the series he comes to care about Satsuki and her friends. In particular he grows close to Keiichirou, with whom he is seen spending time with and bonding. He accompanies Keiichirou to the hospital where the boy's mother died in Episode 12 and assists in defending against the ghost Yamime in Episode 15 and the spirit Souma in Episode 16. He shrugs off these instances as moments of weakness and assures others that he is merely helping so he can get his powers back. However, in the final episode Amanojaku actively chooses to remain in Kaya's body until he is forced to leave it to save Satsuki, Keiichirou, and their friends from Ouma in the climax of the series. At the beginning of Episode 20, Amanojaku promises Keiichirou that they would pick white daffodils, Satsuki and Keiichirou's mother's favorite flower, together, a promise which he laments being unable to keep in the scene leading up to him departing Kaya for the final battle. Amanojaku seems to care deeply for the humans and feels pathetic when he left Kaya, which he originally would have been thrilled to do, but now he is unhappy because he knows that he cannot return to the cat's body and spend time with Satsuki and her friends and especially with her brother. The fate of Amanojaku at the end of the series is unclear, but it is implied that he is free in the world and haunting to his heart's content, however it is also possible he was placed in spiritual sleep in the camphor tree overlooking the cemetery as the final scene is his light laughter showing the sun-dappled branches of the tree. Either way, it is shown that Amanojaku no longer holds a grudge against Satsuki and her family as he leaves a bouquet of white daffodils for Keiichirou at the base of the tree. Trivia * Amanojaku is the ghost that has appeared in the most episodes of the entire series. * The only episodes where Amanojaku does not appear are The Ogre of the Underworld: The Circuits That Lead to Hell, Shirotabi: The Corpse That Wanders the Night and Terror at Bloodstain Lake! The Snow Ghost. * He refers to himself as "'''The Great Lord Amanojaku", and is recognized by many ghosts throughout the series, perhaps implying that he has high standing in the spirit world. * Amanojaku, or Amanjaku (天邪鬼, "heavenly evil spirit") is a demon-like creature in Japanese folklore. It is usually depicted as a small oni, and is thought to be able to provoke a person's darkest desires and thus instigate him into perpetrating wicked deeds.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanojaku * Amanojaku's Japanese voice actor, Ryusei Nakao voices Frieza in Dragon Ball franchise, thus explaining his Friezaesque voice and mannerisms. * In the 2019 anime Dororo, they meet Amanojaku in episode 19, "The Story of the Amanojaku". References Category:Ghosts Category:Main Characters